24 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



not be planted in the borders until they have flowered and 

 proved to be worth keeping. 



The pretty Phlox Drummondi is so surprisingly beauti- 

 ful that we cannot but regret it is seldom seen in English 

 gai-dens. It is the more valuable now that the distinctive 

 colours are easily secured by sowing well-saved seeds, so 

 that as a bedding-plant it is not only one of the loveliest, 

 but certainly one of the cheapest. If the seed is sown at 

 any time between the middle of March and the middle of 

 April, and started in a gentle heat, the usual nursing of a 

 half-hardy annual will suffice to ensure strong plants to 

 put out at the end of May, and this being accomplished, 

 there is nothing more to be done, for the showers and 

 sunshine will do the rest. In burning summers (of 

 which, unfortunately, we have but few) this lovely plant 

 holds its own as well as any border plant in cultivation. 

 When verbenas and calceolarias have been roasted too 

 brown, and even scarlet geraniums are beginning to cry 

 for something to drink, Drummond's phlox appears to be 

 unconcerned, and goes on blooming as if the hot weather 

 had been ordered for it. 



